People, celebrities: Steenburgen a patron of the arts

The Oscar-winning actress will be presenting a painting exhibition Feb. 21 at a Beverly Hills art gallery.

The exhibition will feature the works of Los Angeles-based portrait artist America Martin, who went to high school with Steenburgen's 21-year-old daughter, Lily McDowell.

"I can't really compare her to another artist," Steenburgen told The Associated Press. "She's very on the edge in terms of her exploration. ... It's kind of amazing that someone so young would see inside people the way she does."

Steenburgen, 48, said she sometimes paints and her husband, actor Ted Danson, sculpts. They both also enjoy visiting museums and galleries.

"Art is something that is very much a part of our lives," said Steenburgen, who won a best-supporting actress Oscar for 1980's "Melvin and Howard."

Steenburgen, a native of Newport, Ark., is inviting friends to the exhibit, which she said has a "homegrown quality."

"It didn't come from huge connections to the upper echelons of art circles in Los Angeles," Steenburgen said. "It comes from someone who really loves to paint and has an amazing gift."

Queen Mother recovering from illness

LONDON -- The Queen Mother Elizabeth is "progressing" in her recovery from a bug she caught over Christmas, her daughter Queen Elizabeth II said Sunday.

The 101-year-old royal matriarch has been absent from public engagements since late November.

The queen told well-wishers at the royal family's Sandringham estate in eastern England that the queen mother was getting better.

"She's coming along. She's progressing," the queen said.

The queen had been attended church in West Newton, which lies within the Sandringham estate.

Last week Buckingham Palace officials said the queen mother was resting at Sandringham after catching a bug over Christmas.

The Queen Mother's last public engagement was Nov. 22, when she re-commissioned the aircraft carrier Ark Royal at a ceremony in Portsmouth, on the south coast of England. She was seen attending horse races in December.

Music industry mogul files lawsuit

ASPEN, Colo. -- Music industry mogul Irving Azoff has filed a lawsuit alleging that brokers didn't tell him his multimillion dollar home had structural problems when he bought the property.

Azoff, the former president of MCA Entertainment Group and producer of such movies as "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," filed the lawsuit late last month, alleging negligence and fraudulent misrepresentation.

The lawsuit claims the defendants knew about the home's alleged defects, but didn't disclose that it had structural problems or that its furnace and humidifier didn't work properly.

His Castle Creek Valley Ranch home was bought for $11.95 million in January 2000, according to public records.

The lawsuit says the real estate firm Houston & O'Leary sold the house on behalf of owner Atlas Holdings Group Inc. of California, also a defendant. Firm partner Heidi Houston declined to discuss the suit.